Return to Shady Pines
by The Great Allie
Summary: Fred visits Crispin in the mental hospital where he's lived ever since their escape from Thorney Towers. Things progress awkwardly from there.
1. Chapter 1

_This is a follow-up to Return to Thorny Towers. You can still read this if you haven't read RTTT, it's not a complete continuity lockout, although you'll have to take my word for some things._

 _I actually wrote this years ago, after I realized I didn't have the skill to finish RTTT as the story I wanted, but when I was still determined to do the best I could. I was feeling sad, and lonely, and I liked the idea of this, so I just sat down and wrote it all out in one sitting since I knew how the previous story ended. I never published it before, though, because publishing a sequel to a story you haven't yet finished is a major dick move, in my opinion._

 _Also, yes, there are plenty of other doctors and nurses other than Dr. Forever and Nurse Hidaka. It's just easier if it's always the same ones._

* * *

Fred had only been to Shady Pines once before, and he hadn't been driving. In fact, his mind had been so distracted he couldn't even properly recall what state they had been in, let alone what city, what street, what building. He had gotten directions, and now that he was actually driving out here himself, he sort of remembered. The streets looked familiar, at least.

Eventually, the buildings thinned out and there were more trees and fields, until he finally hit the property line of Shady Pines. He parked his car in the sun, rather than under a pine tree, and sat in his car for a few minutes before collecting himself and getting out. He first fished a small duffel bag out of the backseat, and then locked up and crossed the parking lot. He had parked at the very back of the lot so he could spend as much time as possible outside, putting off the inevitable in favor of fresh air. From here he could see some picnic tables, and the edge of a basketball court on the side of the building. Some patients were sitting outside, something Fred wished he'd been allowed to do when he was a patient at Thorney Towers.

He certainly didn't miss being an orderly, although Shady Pines was very different from Thorny Towers. There it was constantly busy, and loud, and hectic at all hours because of the enormous patient load, the severity of their mental disturbance, and the skeleton crew due to employees either moving or being committed. In contrast, Shady Pines was nice, quiet, relaxing, and tranquil. Fred could see himself working in a place like this, if he was ever inclined to go back into his old field. Which was unlikely. He was perfectly happy preparing tax returns for the rest of his life. Well, not happy. Content. Maybe. At least he didn't have to be constantly reminded of his raw past while he was working.

Inside, he asked the woman at the front desk for Nurse Hidaka, the only employee here he knew (well, the only one that ever talked to him.) While he waited, the receptionist called a security guard who looked through Fred's bag and approved everything to be brought in. Nurse Hidaka arrived right afterwards. "Hello, Fred," she said pleasantly. "I got your message. I'm so glad you made it here today."

"Yeah, me too," said Fred. "How's Crispin been doing? I mean, whatever you can tell me," he added, remembering the restrictions of patient confidentiality.

Nurse Hidaka gestured for Fred to follow him, and as they walked through the building, she talked. "He's a completely different man than he was before the... well, before all that unpleasantness. I'm not sure what that all was, really. Before he left he was catatonic. Now he talks, he walks around, he feeds himself, he reads- with some help, of course..."

"Does he talk to the other patients?"

"No, he doesn't engage anyone unless he has to. He prefers to be alone, and he's not too polite to anyone who tries to talk to him."

"That's Crispin, all right."

"Dr. Forever usually makes him spend time in the common rooms, to socialize him, but he gets awfully withdrawn when he has to."

"Then, if it's all right, we'll just stay in his room."

"Thank you for coming by," said Nurse Hidaka. "Why did you ask for me, specifically?"

Fred's face went pink as he bit the answer on his tongue to keep it from escaping on it's own. Quickly, he gave the pre-approved answer he'd already come up with. "Because I know you, and I feel more comfortable talking to people I've already met. You know, after, uh... all my unpleasantness," he finished lamely.

"Visiting hours are over at five," said Nurse Hidaka as they stopped in front of Crispin's room. She opened the door. It was just as sparse and small as before, without a single personal item on display. No pictures, no books, no trinkets, nothing. It was as if no one lived here, except for the person who was currently very obviously living here.

Crispin was sitting on his bed, leaning against the window with his cheek pressed against the glass. He didn't greet them, but it was obvious he knew they were there. "Crispin," said Nurse Hidaka, making sure to speak clearly. "You have a visitor."

Crispin turned to face them and squinted his eyes. Since leaving Thorny Towers, Crispin had gone completely blind. The constant exposure to the psitanium, in addition to aggravating his mental problems, had blessed him with the ability to perform clairvoyance, so that he didn't lose the world completely. Fred had a feeling he was trying to use it now, to see the guest, but it didn't work because Nurse Hidaka wasn't looking at him.

"Is that you, Fred?" Crispin guessed.

"Yeah," said Fred. "How did you know?"

"You've got a rather interesting perspective on the world, if you know what I mean." Crispin gestured his hand upwards.

"I'll be around later," said Nurse Hidaka. "Have fun, you two." She left, closing the door behind her. There was a large glass window in the door, so that they were never truly alone.

"She doesn't know about our history together, does she?" Crispin asked, sitting up straight.

"Not really," said Fred. "How have you been?"

"Wonderful," said Crispin, "except they won't let me out of here. And even if they did, I have nowhere to go." He glared at Fred. "But enough about me. How have you been, living your boring and lonesome life all alone since the Psychonauts turned you out in the cold?"

"Pretty good," said Fred, irritated at Crispin's ability to pierce directly into the most sensitive parts of Fred's mind. In one brusque sentence he had opened up Fred's dissatisfaction with his job, his lack of a love life, and his insecurity about being outside of someone's protection. It really was a talent with him, tearing away someone's defenses until all that was left was a bundle of nerves.

"You're a terrible liar, General," said Crispin.

Somehow, the nickname didn't rub Fred nearly as raw as it used to.

"So what brings you here? To gloat that I'm still the only member of our old assembly who's still committed?"

"No," said Fred. "Although, if you hadn't played possum for a year, they might be more willing to turn you loose." He was still amazed at the sheer willpower that must have taken, to play the drooling mental patient who couldn't talk, couldn't think, and definitely couldn't be a threat to a secret organization. Too bad it hadn't entirely worked.

"They're never going to turn me loose," said Crispin. "They don't think I have the capacity to function outside of this place."

"Well, do you?"

Crispin sneered, but didn't answer. Fred wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with Crispin. He seemed normal enough. But still, if they were keeping him here, there had to be a reason.

"Actually, I brought you something." Fred sat down on the bed, his legs kicked out awkwardly, as he picked up his duffel bag, pulled out an oblong box, and showed it to Crispin.

"I can't see it if you show it to me, you ninny," said Crispin. "Hold it up in front of your face."

Fred held the box at arms length, so that he could see the whole front of the box. It was an old, battered, but complete copy of Waterloo-O. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Crispin grin. "Oh, I see. You want to join me here, is that it?"

"No," said Fred. "I just want a friendly game."

"Well, you're not getting one. Open her up, let's see what's there."

They both slid down to the floor and began to take out the pieces, setting up the board. Crispin was slower and more clumsy, as Fred was focused more on his own side of the board and only saw Crispin's through his peripheral vision. Still, Crispin stoutly refused to ask for help of any sort. Before long, they were ready.

Fred's moves were slow at first. He spent far more time building up his defenses than attacking of any kind. Crispin, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. He had never lost a game to Fred before, and though Fred had been compulsively practicing for half a century, Crispin still had a clear edge. That's because both of them knew, quite well, how this game had affected them in the past. Namely, Fred a lot, and Crispin not at all.

Still, as the game went on, Crispin had to admit that Fred was a worthy opponent. His moves were much less transparent, and his strategy far more complex than anything from the old days. Perhaps Napoleon had beaten more than just the love of victory back into him. Perhaps some of his military strategy had rubbed off. Crispin smirked, as the mental image was more that of a man who had been possessed by the spirit of his ancestor rather than one psychotically channeling the stereotypical caricature of Napoleon.

Eventually, it proved to have been for nothing, as Crispin placed his knight in Fred's stronghold, winning the game for the 28th time. He flashed a cheeky grin at Fred, but said nothing. His wooden game piece said more than enough. If only he could see Fred's expression.

Fred sighed, and it was more of a resigned sigh than a disappointed one. "Well, that's that, then."

"That's what?"

"I just wanted to see if I could stand to lose to you."

"Oh, so you knew you were going to lose?"

"Of course I knew," said Fred. "You cheat."

Crispin was offended. "What? I've never cheated at this game. Not once."

"Crispin, you can't very well change your side of the board when you think I'm not looking, if the only time you can see your board is when I'm looking."

Crispin bit his lip. He'd forgotten he was using Fred's eyes this whole time. He wondered if he could get himself a seeing eye dog, and train it to watch the game board for him while he made his moves. "How long have you known?"

"Well, I wasn't sure at first," said Fred. "I mean, it didn't really occur to me when we were having our... ill-fated tournament, I guess you could call it. And I know you don't do it every time, so I do lose on my own. But after I began obsessively replaying all of our games over and over in my head, I began to realize that they didn't all add up. At first I thought that maybe I was just making excuses, that the losing wasn't my fault. But after a while, I guess I felt that it shouldn't matter. That I should have been able to win anyway."

"You thought that, or Napoleon thought that?"

"We're the same person," said Fred.

"Could've fooled me."

"I really just came here for one final test. Just to prove to myself that he was never coming back." Fred stretched his stubby arms and began to pack up the box. "I'll be getting out of your hair now. I probably won't be coming back."

Fred watched Crispin get up and move back to his bed, and then turned to leave. He thought Crispin looked a bit disappointed, though he couldn't tell if he was actually sad to see his visitor go or miffed that he hadn't gotten under his skin like before.

On his way out, he passed Nurse Hidaka again. "Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah. We're not exactly..." Fred had a thought. "Hey, Nurse Hidaka? Is there any chance he'll ever get out of here?"

"I can't really say," said Nurse Hidaka with a stand-offish frown. She glanced over her shoulder and leaned up to Fred, who leaned in close. "But off the record? No. Not if he doesn't have someone at home with him. He doesn't even need full-time care. He just can't live alone, and no one will take him."

"I see," said Fred. So no chance of him getting out and tracking Fred down. He was free.

So why did he still feel like he was trapped in a straitjacket?


	2. Chapter 2

After breakfast was cleared away, Crispin was led to the game room, where he flopped down on the ugly pea-green couch and refused to talk to anyone. He tried to get a look around from the patient next to him, but he was stimming like crazy and wouldn't keep still, so that was a wash. The television was on, but it was some insipid cartoon that Crispin refused to acknowledge.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, which caused Crispin to snarl. "Don't touch me," he demanded.

"Sorry," said Nurse Hidaka. "Medication time."

He took the paper cup of pills and the paper cup of water, threw back one, then the other. After he swallowed he opened his mouth and moved his tongue to the nurses satisfaction.

Dr. Forever came up near Crispin, he could see from Rumi's eyes. He gestured for her to come with him.

Finally, Crispin said what had been bugging him, and possibly you, for a while now. "How come you never talk?" he demanded, looking straight at the doctor.

Dr. Forever looked at Crispin, then faced Nurse Hidaka. He pulled down his collar to show his throat, revealing several large, white scars running down his neck.

Crispin was mildly surprised. "That's unfortunate. Completely ruined your vocal chords, didn't it?"

Dr. Forever nodded.

"Must be awful."

Dr. Forever shrugged. He reached down and mussed Crispin's hair, which caused him to recline. He saw a smirk on the doctor's eyes, and he glowered even harder. Then he motioned for Crispin to come with him.

Crispin rolled his useless eyes and got up, following Dr. Forever through the building to his office, where he felt around for a seat while the doctor sat down at his computer. He pushed a few keys and, in a robotic voice, the computer began to talk. "Crispin, how would you like to get out of here?"

Crispin straightened up, then tried not to look excited. Best not to let anyone know when they had something you wanted, or you'd never get it from them. "I might be interested," he said.

"I have found someone whose willing to take you," said Dr. Forever's computer. The automatic voice pronounced who's wrong, much to the doctor's annoyance.

"Really?" Crispin was mildly surprised. He wasn't sure what medical program he was getting transferred to, though if it was one with more freedom, he wouldn't complain.

"I thought you might like to discuss it."

"Not with a robot," said Crispin.

"I am not a robot. The computer is only a part of me. That makes me a cyborg."

"Fair point," agreed Crispin.

The door opened. Crispin instinctively turned to the sound, and then remembered to check through Dr. Forever's eyes. Before he could, though, a familiar voice said, "Um, am I in the right place?"

Crispin's jaw dropped. "Fred? Fred Bonaparte? This is a cruel joke."

"No joke he really asked," said Dr. Forever's computer, without pausing. He scowled and tapped at the keyboard a few times angrily, but didn't say anything.

"I know he really asked," said Crispin. "That's what makes it a joke. What's your angle, Bonaparte? You feel sorry for me? Don't tell me you missed the sound of my voice."

"No, and no," said Fred. "Look, I don't know what it is. I just thought I'd offer."

"Well, thanks, but no thank you. I'm perfectly happy staying here."

"I can tell when you're lying," said Dr. Forever.

"I'm not sorry, you know," said Crispin. "About anything. Any of it. I think you deserved it. You're a fool, a stupid idiot who let a game get to him, and I took advantage of it. And it was funny. Don't think for a second I've changed."

"Fine," said Fred dismissively. "It was just an offer. I'm sure people are lining up around the block to let you live with them."

Crispin did not like Fred's tone. It was one he was entirely unaccustomed to hearing in Fred's voice, and that made him uneasy.

"It's your choice, Crispin," said Dr. Forever.

"That voice is creepy," said Fred.

"It's the only one I can use," replied Dr. Forever with a shrug.

"Well, if you're not interested, I'll just be going," said Fred. "I have a lot of other stuff to do today." He turned to leave.

"Wait."

Fred turned back around. Dr. Forever was watching them both, chin on his hands, a sort of smile on his face. He kept his eyes steady for Crispin's sake.

"I might be interested," admitted Crispin. He saw his future stretching out before him, of endless days and nights of nothing but inane distractions, of therapy session after therapy session, of being surrounded by patients who didn't have the mental capacity to carry on a conversation. It turned his stomach to ice.

Fred smiled. It was not Fred's old, innocent smile. It was altogether unsettling.

"Just out of curiosity," said Crispin, "What makes you think this is a good idea?"

"Because," replied Fred, "if it turns out that it isn't, I can always send you back here."

"Ahh... so that's your game."

Dr. Forever applauded softly, looking smug as he did.

"Old Crispin Whytehead plays by Fred's rules or he gets sent back here, is that it?" He had to admire Fred's guts. Fred would have Crispin at his mercy for a change, after so long the other way around.

"Take it or leave it," said Fred.

A thick silence hung in the air between them as Fred and Crispin stared each other down. Dr. Forever waited patiently, drawn into their story like it was a daytime soap opera.

Finally, Crispin let out a sigh. "All right. I accept."

* * *

In reality it took almost a month before Crispin was ready to move out. There was a lot of paperwork involved in getting Fred listed as Crispin's guardian. Once he was, he had access to Crispin's medical information, all up to date. Some of it was information from back at Thorney Towers that Fred didn't know, and Crispin was afraid to admit it embarrassed him for Fred to know the reason he was there to begin with.

Fred didn't live too far from Shady Pines, since the Thorney Towers inmates had all been taken to the same area after escaping the asylum, and had fanned out from there. Crispin would return for his treatment, and his medication, both of which were still being paid for by the state. Fred had to attend a few meetings in which he learned everything involved in taking care of someone like Crispin.

A big part of it, Crispin came to realize, was that Fred got to keep coming back. And when he got to come back, he got to see Nurse Hidaka. Sometime during all of this, he had graduated to calling her by her first name, Rumi. It made Crispin sick to watch them talk, Fred's nervous stammering and lovesick blushing. And Rumi clearly felt the same way, because she had the same nervous stammer and lovesick blush that he did. Crispin never understood why two people could be like that around each other. He also couldn't understand why they were oblivious to the others returning of the affections.

Finally, the day came for Crispin to leave. The other patients threw him a party, and he had to sit in the common room while they had cake and told stories about memories of Crispin doing things, and pretend not to hate all of them until Fred came to pick him up. It couldn't have come soon enough. They rode away in silence, Crispin pressing his forehead against the window and seething, wondering if it was too late to go back, or if he could jump out of the car at a stoplight and make a run for it.

"We're here."

Fred parked in a parking lot on the edge of a complex of townhouses and led Crispin down the sidewalk to a particular house. It was a small starter home with a concrete patio and overgrown lawn, squashed up against two other houses, and three more behind them. Fred unlocked the door and stepped aside so Crispin could find his way in.

The house wasn't any bigger on the inside. The ground floor had a great room, a kitchen, and bathroom, and that was it. "There are two bedrooms upstairs and a laundry room downstairs," said Fred. He wasn't looking at Crispin, he was looking at his shelf of pinewood derby racers, hand carved and painted. He must have been so proud of them.

Crispin carefully went up the stairs and was annoyed to find that Fred was following him. 'Doesn't he think I can do this myself?' he thought with a scowl. When they got to the top of the stairs, Fred pointed to the smaller bedroom adjacent to the Master Bedroom. "That's where you'll sleep. I got the room all ready for you. I won't bother you there," he added.

Glorious. Crispin went into his room and shut the door. Unfortunately, he realized that he couldn't see the room. Irritated, he felt his way around to understand the layout of it. There was a closet, empty, next to the door. There was a single bed, neatly made, with a down comforter on top. Very soft. Fred must have hit the jackpot at goodwill. There was also a small desk with, Crispin noted with a grimace, a lamp on it. And on the far side of the room was a window seat. Crispin sat on the window seat and looked out, imagining he could see the front yard.

Not that different from the asylum, he realized. Still, for now, it felt good to be out.


End file.
